The South African coronavirus variant is better at breaking through the defense of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine than other forms of the virus, Israeli experts said on Sunday.
However, one of the authors told AFP that although the study showed that the variant was relatively successful in infecting vaccines, it did not provide any data on whether it could cause serious diseases among vaccines.
The study by Tel Aviv University and Clalit Health Services, Israel’s largest healthcare provider, compared 400 unvaccinated people infected with COVID-19 to 400 partially or completely vaccinated who also had the virus.
According to the study, which was published as a draft on Saturday and is currently being evaluated by peers, the South African variant was less than one percent of cases of coronavirus in Israel.
But among the 150 people in the study who were fully vaccinated and had COVID-19, the incidence (of the South African variant) was eight times higher than the percentage of those who were not vaccinated (individuals), the study said.
“This means that the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine is unlikely to offer the same protection against the South African (B.1.351) variant of the coronavirus,” the study added.
“The South African variant may break through the protection of the vaccine to some extent,” said Professor Adi Stern of the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, one of the study’s authors.
Stern told AFP on Sunday that the study did not assess whether the fully vaccinated Israelis with the South African variant – a total of eight people – had serious illnesses.
“Since we found a very small number of vaccines infected with B.1.351, it is statistically meaningless to report disease outcomes,” he said.
Preventive measures
Two studies conducted in February in the New England Journal of Medicine carried out by major vaccine manufacturers Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna, showed that the presence of antibodies after vaccination was less pronounced in people exposed to the South African variant, indicating reduced protection.
The Israeli study was the first assessment of the ability of the South African variant to bypass a vaccine.
Israel’s vaccination campaign resulted in 5.3 million people receiving a first dose, while 4.9 million, or 53 percent of the population, had two shots.
An earlier study by Clalit on 1.2 million Israelis found that the Pfizer / BioNTech sting provided 94 percent protection against COVID-19.
Following the successful vaccination, Israel has eased many of its restrictions, but there are still various measures in place, including masking and a “green passport” system that only provides access to certain sites for those vaccinated.
Ral Balicer of Clalit, one of the authors of the study, told AFP the results could help inform countries about the best way to ease restrictions.
Balicer said that vaccinations, plus wearing masks and other safety precautions, probably still helped limit the spread of the South African variant, despite the apparent ability to break the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine.
A combination of all these factors “probably prevents the virus strains, including the South African one, from spreading significantly in Israel”, he said.
“If we reduce non-pharmaceutical interventions, we must do so gradually to ensure that we do not exceed a threshold that allows these variants to spread.”
© Agence France-Press